Vanessa has handled and trained horses professionally for almost twenty years. These many years of experience with horses of different breeds, varying ages and levels of education and handling has helped her develop a method of training which horses (and owners!) find easy to understand.

Usually commencing with a simple range of groundwork exercises, the horse is encouraged to develop flexion, bend, rhythm, self-carriage and softness to the hand/rein. Strong emphasis is also placed on encouraging the horse to develop self-control during their work and under challenging conditions, and to maintain these principles as their training progresses under saddle.

The principles which are instilled through the groundwork exercises and then reiterated under saddle, create a soft, forward, supple and willing horse who is encouraged to control themselves physically and mentally and to perform to their best ability, whether it be in the dressage arena, the hack ring, the western pleasure class, a one-day event or just out on the trail. Although the rules of each discipline vary, the desired outcome is common to them all; a horse who is willing to go forward softly, with rhythm, bend & suppleness.

For almost two decades, Vanessa has helped riders of different ages and abilities develop a better understanding of how the horse moves and how the rider influences that movement.

Many years of classroom experience in teaching and lecturing about horse care, anatomy, health and training, combined with coaching riders from pony club through to state level competition in varied disciplines, enables Vanessa to efficiently assess each horse/rider combination, develop an appropriate training/exercise programme and evaluate the results.

Regardless of age, skill level or discipline, all riders learn to understand how the basic principles of rider position, timing, leg, rein, voice and seat aids create the ideal partnership with their horse through a range of simple, easy to understand ridden exercises. As with the groundwork, these exercises are designed to encourage the horse to maintain forward, softness, flexion, rhythm and self-carriage, with a minimum of influence from the rider.

Vanessa’s aim is to help both horse and rider to understand not only the basic principles of riding and training, but also how both horse and rider are influenced by the performance and behaviours of each other, and how to effectively guide that performance and those behaviours to achieve the very best result.

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